Flamenco Vivo lecture-demonstration

(EAST MEREDITH) On Sunday, November 5th at 2PM, the West Kortright Centre presents the closing event of its 2017 season—a celebration of flamenco music and dance. Members of Flamenco Vivo Carlota Santana, one of America’s premier Spanish dance companies, will perform an entertaining and educational program in colorful, traditional costumes. Four artists—two dancers, a singer, and a guitarist—will demonstrate the flamenco dance form as well as explain its intricacies, cultural history, and details of the instruments involved. Audience participation is a vital aspect of the experience, which will be followed by a question & answer session and end with a Spanish-inspired reception.

Flamenco Vivo Carlota Santanahas appeared at 71 venues in 26 states over the past five years and serves New York City audiences with an annual home season. The company is dedicated to the belief that the universal spirit of flamenco, a multicultural art form, has the power to build bridges between cultures. Their mission includes raising public awareness of flamenco as an integral part of Hispanic heritage, creating and presenting new works, and nurturing the next generations of flamenco artists. The Company commissions new repertoire with original choreography and music and has premiered a series of dramatic, cutting-edge works. Flamenco Vivo also operates the Center for Flamenco Arts, one of only three New York City dance studios dedicated to the specific requirements of flamenco, and produces the New York State Flamenco Certamen, a competition for pre-professional dance artists. Since 1996, Flamenco Vivo has developed outreach initiatives that have served communities in multiple states, includes many areas previously unexposed to Hispanic art forms.

Carlota Santana and Roberto Lorca co-founded the company in 1983. Since his death in 1987, Carlota has led Flamenco Vivo to its 30th anniversary and beyond, performing at such NYC venues as Lincoln Center, the Joyce Theater, BAM’s Fisher Hall, the New Victory Theater, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Museum of Modern Art, and at venues nationwide and in Colombia, South America and Granada, Spain.

In recognition of the Company’s commitment to excellence, as well as of her commitment to creating new works and developing young artists and choreographers, Ms. Santana has been deemed “The Keeper of Flamenco” by Dance Magazine. On the occasion of the Company’s 30th Anniversary in 2013, the Government of Spain honored her with La Cruz de la Ordenal Merito Civil for “all the years of excellence and dedication to the flamenco art.”

NOVEMBER 5

This event is made possible thanks to the New York State DanceForce, a consortium of dance activists committed to increasing the quantity and quality of dance activity throughout New York State. New York State DanceForce is a New York State Council on the Arts partner. Tickets are $15 ($18 day of); $12 for West Kortright Centre members ($15 day of); $11 for youth under 19. The ticket booth opens at 1PM; doors open at 1:30PM. This is an indoor performance; however, attendees are encouraged to bring their own picnic lunch to enjoy in the bucolic West Kortright Centre valley before the show (weather permitting).

The West Kortright Centre is located midway between Oneonta, Delhi, and Stamford. Follow signs from state Route 23 in Davenport Center or state Route 10 east of Delhi. For advance tickets and exact travel directions, visit www.westkc.org.